THE CUTEST CRIMINAL
by adoptarescue
Summary: Peter and Elizabeth's quest to take care of a two year old Neal
1. Chapter 1

How can you make a two year old understand that he is loved and safe? That is a question Peter has been tossing around all afternoon. He is so afraid that he will do or say something to scar the little boy for life. He knows that Neal was damaged, before, when he was a child. For all his charm and apparent confidence, swagger in his walk and panty dropping smile, Neal Caffrey was still a frightened little boy even at the age of 35. For your father to abandon you when you are three is something Peter will never understand. He loved his own father so much, and he knew his father loved him, without a doubt. He would never abandon Neal, never. He and Elizabeth would tackle this head on and do whatever needed to be done for as long as it needed to be done. Even if Neal never changed back into his former self.

Listening to Neal cry down the hall is just about to break his heart. Elizabeth had told him that routine was what children needed and actually wanted. Right now though he was having a hard time believing that. Usually when Elizabeth put him down for the night he fussed a little but within a couple of minutes he would put a little thumb in his mouth, quiet down and go right to sleep. But not tonight, the one night Elizabeth decided she's going out with her girlfriends. No, she wouldn't be gone all night, but it will probably be a few more hours before she gets home and he can't just let Neal cry until then. Can he? Of course he can't !

"What's wrong buddy? Shhh, shhhh, shhhh, daddy's here, daddy's got you," Peter says as he turns on the light in the nursery. Neal is still crying but starts easing up a bit with shuddering little breaths, tear tracks shining down his rosy little cheeks. He holds his arms out and Peter reaches to pick him up taking him under his arms and securing one of his own arms under his bottom. "Oh, well, here is part of the problem, you're wet! Oh my goodness, well, we'll fix that right now. Come on now, settle down, I'd cry too baby boy. I know, I know, that's uncomfortable, daddy's gonna fix it right now."

Peter feels horrible that he has listened to his baby cry for almost 45 minutes and it was a cry for help. He had done everything Elizabeth had told him to do. It's not like he hasn't had one on one time with Neal since he became a baby, he had, but he hasn't learned to read his cries like El has. She knows the difference in a hungry cry, a wet cry, a tired cry, a mad cry and an all out temper tantrum. They all sounded the same to Peter, but he had followed her directions to the letter. He had played with Neal and then fed him, bathed him, and he thought he had rocked him to sleep, but the minute he laid him down the fussing started, and then the crying. Oh the crying. He prayed he would stop and in all honesty, he hadn't cried the entire time. He'd stop and Peter would release a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding, then in a couple of minutes he'd start up again. Parenthood was stressful.

"You really soaked that one buddy, we've got to get you some dry jammies too. Daddy is so sorry. He didn't understand what you needed. He's gonna get better though buddy, I promise." Neal has stopped sobbing, but every now and then a huge crocodile tear would escape from the corner of one of his big blue eyes. Neal's eyes are so blue and so big, but they look even more so now that those same eyes and eyelashes are wet with tears. Sometimes Peter thinks Neal can see everything with those eyes, well, maybe not everything, but he bets they don't miss much! Peter sets about getting they boy changed and getting some cream for a bottom that is a tad red from a wet diaper.

"How about we rock for a while little man? Would you like that?" Neal nods his head and Peter lifts him off the changing table and heads to the rocker in the corner. He sits down and gets Neal settled with his head in the crook of his arm and the other underneath him so that he could pat his bottom. That always seemed to comfort him. It was quiet except for the occasional creak from the rocking chair. Peter noticed that Neal's thumb had found it's way back to his mouth and every now and then when Neal's eyes would roll back in his head and his eyes would threaten to close, he would actually suck it. He thought that was so cute. El had gotten quite a few pictures of Neal in his new state. Pictures that Peter was sure he would be able to torture Neal with when he turned back into his 35 year old self, IF he turned back into his 35 year old self


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth got home around midnight. It had been fun being out with some girlfriends. She had made alot of new friends since starting Burke Premier Events and even though without a doubt Peter was her best friend, there was alot to be said for having girlfriends. Especially now that she had a little one to take care of too. Of course her sister had two babies of her own and was always a wealth of information, still it was nice to have friends close by so that she could plan playdates and parties for little ones too. Life was good.

She found Peter sitting in straight backed chair just outside the nursery door, sound asleep. She smiled and walked over and gave him a tiny kiss on his head. Peter snorted and didn't open his eyes at first, but it soon dawned on him that there was someone standing there watching him. He opened his eyes and was greeted with a smile from his wife.

"Hi hon, rough night"?

"Oh, ah, no, no, ah, we did just fine. No problem, I told you we'd be fine"

That's great Peter, but can I ask you a question? Why are you sitting right outside the nursery door"?

"OH HON... I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE HOME! It was awful, well, not awful, but I was scared. Not a week ago he was a tough, grown, aggravating con- man and now he's, he's, he's...that", as Peter pointed into the room. "I don't know how to handle,...that"!

"Peter, calm down. First of all he's not a "that" he's a baby and he's still your CI, just in another form. Neal is still in there, in that little body. You've always said you wished he had had a better upbringing with better role models, well, here's your chance".

Elizabeth was grinning from ear to ear and Peter knew whe was messing with him, but she was right. He was the one that needed to "Cowboy Up". Give him criminals in life threatening situations any day, but handling a baby, that was terrifying!

"He cried El. He cried and cried and cried and I wanted to cry! You said he might fuss when I first laid him down, but you didn't say how long."

"Peter, how long did he cry"? No answer. "Peter, how long"?

"About 45 minutes I think. Now before you go all "Mama Bear" on me he didn't scream the whole time. He would taper off and then pick it up again. The kid has really got some lungs on him. Anyway, I went in and he was soaked. He doesn't do that when you put him down. I mean I know he wakes up wet, but I had just changed him before I rocked him and put him down".

Elizabeth looked a tad puzzled, then she asked," Did you give him anything extra to drink after you fed him"?

She could tell Peter was thinking about the previous hours. She knew he had to have varied in some way from the instructions she had left for him.

"Well, he kept handing me his sippy cup"

"Peter, he hands me his cup to put up for him after supper. He thinks he's helping".

"Ohhhhh, I thought the little guy was thirsty, damn"!

"One more question hon, ah, how many times did you fill it and hand it back"?

Oh, I don't know, can't really remember",Peter said sheepishly.

"Guess"!

"Three, three, no, four times. Hmmm, suppose that make's his little bladder full, huh"?

Elizabeth had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She didn't want to laugh at Peter because she knew he was trying, but when it came to babies her poor husband really was clueless.

"Ok, he's not hurt, but we better check that diaper again before we turn in".

They turned on the little crib side lamp and just looked at Neal for a moment. He was so peaceful and sleeping so deeply on his tummy. Elizabeth gently turned him on his back and unsnapped the bottom portion of his pajamas. She slipped a finger inside his diaper and looked back at Peter and smiled. "Still dry",she whispered and snapped his night clothes back together. Neal never stirred,never opened his eyes, never made a sound, he just slept soundly on.

"Have I told you how lucky I am, how lucky Neal is to have you El"?

El looked at her watch and said,"Not today you haven't, and speaking of being lucky, any chance I might get lucky too"?

"It would be my pleasure", Peter said with a sly and mischevious smile and with that they made their way to the master bedroom.


	3. Chapter 3

Paste your docum

Dadeeeeee! Dadeeeeeee! Dadeeeee!

Peter and Elizabeth could hear Neal down the hall. They opened their eyes, looked at one another and smiled. And so begins another day. Some mornings he calls for Mommy, but this morning he is calling for Daddy.

"Sounds like you're being summoned hon", Elizabeth said with a smile as she brushed Peter's hair out of his eyes. "I'll go if you want to rest a while longer."

"No, no, it's ok, I'll go. What time is it anyway?" Peter yawns, picks up his phone and looks at the time. 5:30 He rolls over on his back, takes a deep breath and shoves himself up off the bed. He takes one look back at Elizabeth and blows her a kiss and takes off down the hallway.

Neal is standing up in his crib. He has the bottom part of his pajama's off along with his diaper. His hair is going every direction on his head. He has his hands on the top rail of his bed along with his mouth. He looks up with his eyes when Peter comes into the room and breaks into the biggest grin. He's a happy boy.

"Hey you! Good morning! Where is your diaper, huh?"

Neal just grins bigger and says, "Wet Dadeee!"

Peter laughs and leans over and picks Neal up, gives him a kiss and sets him on the floor.

"Can you get a diaper and bring it to me? Then we can get you something to eat. Are you hungry?"

Neal grabs the front of his pajama top and squeals, "Yes! Ceweal and ba-anna's pwease!"

Peter turns to pick up Neal's pajama bottoms and the wet diaper out of the crib when he hears Neal giggle. He turns just in time to see his bare bottom run out the door with a diaper in his hand. "Neal, Neal, you better get back here," Peter says, but Neal just giggles louder and keeps going.

Peter walks back into the master bedroom and El is looking at him and smiling. There is a lump under the covers right beside her.

"El, hon, have you seen Neal? I thought he might have come in here. I can't find him anywhere."

"No, I haven't seen him Peter, did you lose him?

They hear Neal giggle and see him move slightly under the covers.

"Gosh, I can't find him, I guess I did lose him. Oh no El, what am I going to do. I lost our little boy !" Peter says as he feigns crying. " I sure am going to miss him." Peter puts his hands over his face and continues to pretend to cry.

Neal comes flying out from under the covers."Hewe I am Dadee, hewe I am. I not lost, don't cwy Dadee!" He's pulling at Peter's hands so that he can see his face.

"Gotcha!" cried Peter. He pulled Neal into a big hug and pretended to bite and blow raspberries on the boys tummy. Neal's giggles turned into full blown laughter. He was laughing so hard it was hard to catch his breath. Elizabeth was laughing too and tickling the little guy on his ribs. He didn't have a chance.

After a short wrestling match in the bed, Elizabeth put Neal's diaper on him and Peter took him by the hand to take him down stairs. They had installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs and another at the bottom to keep Neal off them. He was walking and running and had pretty good coordination for his age, still, they were trying to head off any accidents where they could. Peter flipped the latch, picked Neal up and carried him down. Satchmo was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and needed to go outside, but not before he got to give his boy good morning kisses. Peter put Neal down and Satchmo went right to work sniffing and kissing and proceeding to knock Neal right on his bottom. "No Mo! No! Bad dog!" Neal said as he made it back to his feet.

"Sit Satch," Peter commanded. The dog sat right down and Neal threw his arms around the dogs neck and gave him a kiss on his nose. "OK, now that everyone has said their good mornings lets let Satch out into the backyard and then we can feed him too, ok?"

"Otay, mon Mo, outside. Mo! Outside Mo!"Neal said, the dog never moved. Peter gave him a hand signal and the dog started moving toward the door. Of course Neal thought the dog was obeying him and you could see the delight in his eyes. "Open da door Dadeee pwease." Neal was always so polite and so very good to say please and thank you. Out went Satchmo and up went Neal into a booster seat at the table.

"Okay kiddo, what kind of cereal do you want? Kix, Cheerios, Chex, ah.." that's as far as he got.

"O's ! Cheer O's" , Neal squealed clapping his hands together. Peter thought about how easily satisfied the little guy was. He loved his Cheerios and bananas. He got out the melamine bowl and childs spoon and poured Neal some cereal and cut up a banana for him. He had a certain way he liked his cereal. He liked the banana cut up and on the side. He would take a spoonful of cereal then take his fingers and put a piece of banana on top and then eat it. He didn't like the bananas floating in the milk in the bowl and WOULD NOT eat it that way. Elizabeth said that it was his way of asserting his independence. Peter thought it was kinda silly but at least it was entertaining.

Neal was happily eating his cereal and Peter had given him some apple juice in his cup. Most of the milk from the spoon was going down the front of his pajama top and what cereal he dropped he picked up with his fingers and put in his mouth. Peter couldn't help but think of Neal a few weeks ago. Impeccible table manners, immaculant hair and not a speck of dust on his clothes. My how things change.

Peter made himself a couple of pieces of toast while he was waiting on the coffee. He turned back to Neal who was finishing his breakfast and asked him if he would like a piece of toast. Neal nodded and Peter fixed him a piece too.

Peter let the dog back inside and fed him and stepped outside to get the paper. He poured himself a cup of coffee and settled at the table . "Neal, you remember we are going to get you a big boy bed today. So be good and finish your toast. Then when Elizabeth comes down to eat and we all get dressed we'll go, okay?" Neal? Eat your toast, you said you wanted it and it's not nice to waste food. You haven't eaten a bite, now eat up."

Neal was resting his head on his hand just looking at Peter. He had no intention of eating that toast and Peter could tell by the look on his face. He put his paper down and was going to reason with Neal some more but before he got eye to eye with the boy Neal had picked up the toast and thrown it in the floor.

"Neal! Why would you do something like that? You said you wanted toast and this is not an acceptable way to behave. Do you want a spanking?"

"NO! I want toast wike you! Not that ! NO !"

"Neal, what are you talking about? That was toast like I had, exactly like I had!"

"NO DADEEE, you put da butter on the wong side!", and with that huge crockodile tears started to spill from Neal's eyes.

And so begins the terrible two's.

ent here...


	4. Chapter 4

The shopping excursion for the bed went off without a hitch. A full sized captain's bed with storage underneath. It had rails that fit the sides for beginners in "big boy' beds. Still, it wasn't like a crib that could keep Neal contained in one place during the night. Peter was concerned about this. Neal had a knack for disappearing almost in front of your eyes. He had gotten away from him and Elizabeth at the furniture store for a moment, but it was a moment that lasted a lifetime. He and Elizabeth had never been so frantic so quickly and just as quickly relieved when they found him in the toy isle on his knees playing with some building blocks. At the same time they blurted out, "Neal", and he could tell that they were angry, but once he flashed his little megawatt smile, they had no choice but to smile too. They scooped him up and went home to await the delivery of the bed.

Neal was having a fun time playing with and in the box that the bed had arrived in. To a two year old it was huge and the perfect place for hiding with Satchmo and watching for intruders. Peter had cut a hole in the side for a window and Neal had been playing with it for over 2 hours while the adults were putting his new bed together. He would giggle when Elizabeth would tell Peter he was doing it wrong and to please read the directions. When they were finally done they found Neal sound asleep in the box with Satchmo standing guard.

Elizabeth had taken Neal downstairs while Peter disposed of the box and everything else that needed to be thrown away. It amazed him that there were always left over pieces when you put things together. He figured it was the manufacturers' way of putting it in your head that you had done something wrong. He had fought the bed and he had won, directions be damned !

Once he had taken all the trash out and walked Satchmo Peter came into the kitchen where he found El making supper and Neal making a small mess. Two saltine crackers have covered half of the dining room table and Neal's mouth is full, how is that possible? Satchmo is waiting patiently for something to drop his way. El puts supper on the table and Peter cuts up the chicken for Neal. It is still amusing that Neal picks up a piece of food and puts it on his fork and then pops it in his mouth. It's double work but he hasn't quite grasped the concept of being able to keep things on his utensil from plate to mouth. It's actually amusing.

Elizabeth had bought sheets with dogs on them, so while she was busy making up the new bed Peter was awarded bath duties. It wasn't that big a deal, making sure Neal got clean, it was tidying up the bathroom afterwards. Neal splashed around like a duck and there was hardly a surface that didn't have water on it by the time he was done, much less the person that was supervising.!

"Come on Neal, time to get out and get ready for bed."

"NO!"

Peter chuckled, then told him again that it was time to get out.

"NO! I pwaying!" Neal said and scooted to the far back corner of the tub and splashed water at Peter.

"Come on buddy, you've been in there long enough now, please don't make me ask you again."

This time Neal just ignored him and continued to play with the toys in the tub.

"Neal , okay then," Peter stood up and reached in and plucked him from the tub. Neal immediately started to scream and kick.

"No, no, no, no, no! Put me down, No !" He was squirming and kicking and twisting and it was all Peter could do to hold on to a wet,naked little body. As a matter of fact he almost dropped him once.

"Hey, hey, Neal, settle down what has gotten in to you?"

By this time and because of all the commotion Elizabeth opens the door and asks ,"What in the world is going on in here. Peter ? Neal ?"

"El, I have no idea. He didn't want to get out of the tub and when I pulled him out all this started." Peter had loosened his hold on Neal and set him down on the floor and once Neal was free he turned and tried to get back into the tub.

"Neal, No !" Peter grabbed him by his little shoulders and turned him back to face him and told him "No" again and with that gave him a smack on the bottom.

Neal was stunned for a moment and looked at Peter. Then he began to cry. Not the mad cry of not being able to do what I want, but the oh, you have really hurt my feelings cry.

Elizabeth was standing there with her mouth open. Not really understanding why Neal was acting this way and not quite believing that Peter had actually smacked Neal. Of course he hadn't hurt the child, but it did the trick and got his attention for sure. They carried Neal into his room and put his night clothes on him while he continued to cry. Then Peter picked him up and took him to the rocker. He could tell that Neal was overly tired and cranky. As they rocked the cries quieted.

"Daddy, awe you sorwy?"

"Sorry for what Neal"

"Sorwy you pank me?"

Peter had to use every bit of self control he had not to burst out laughing.

"No Neal, no I'm not sorry. You were acting bad and you had a spanking coming."

With that Neal started to cry again. Peter just continued to rock and think that was just like something Caffrey would do, con him into thinking he should feel guilty for disciplining him.

Some things never change.


	5. Chapter 5

After making sure that Neal was sound asleep, Peter made his way back down the stairs and found Elizabeth on the sofa drinking coffee and folding clothes. Peter reached to get a small shirt to help with the folding, but he just held the shirt and looked at it a while. It was so very tiny and so were the blue jeans that he picked up next. He had always considered Neal Caffery childish in so many ways but it never dawned on him that something like this would happen. He remembers the day well when the world as they all knew it came to a screeching halt.

It had been a day like any other, Peter and Neal going over fraud cases and Diana and Jones following up on leads they had come upon from the previous day. It was getting close to lunch time and Neal was as bored as he had ever been.

"Peter, come on, if I have to look at one more case of mortgage fraud I'll die."

"Neal, no one ever died of boredom, just cowboy up and do the work,okay? Thing could always be worse. You know you could be sitting in a prison cell..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know Peter, pull the old prison card out of your pocket. You know that is getting to be a little old in itself."

"Old but true Neal, old but true. Okay, lets break for lunch, and since Neal is so bored doing mortgage fraud cases, when we get back, you all can go and inventory the confiscated property room."

"Peter !", Neal, Diana and Jones all said at the same time,"Come on boss, that is the worst of the worst thing to have to do," Diana said. It's such a nice day outside, I was thinking we might get off a little early today or at the very least go serve some warrants or something fun like that."

Jones and Diana both shot Neal a 'I cannot believe you've done this to us' look. Jones asked,"Caffrey have you ever seen Full Metal Jacket?"

"No, no, that movie was to violent for me. You all know I'm a lover not a fighter.",Neal said with a full dimple revealing smile.

"Well Caffrey, there is a scene you might want to familiarize yourself with. A certain recruit continually gets the rest of his platoon in trouble, and they take care of it."

"You know you can't get physical with me, and why is this all my fault anyway?", Neal says as he looks as Peter.

Diana walked over to Neal and almost touched noses with him,"Oh we won't lay a hand on you, but soap in a sock just might do the trick."

"Peter, what are they talking about, soap in a sock, what does that mean?"

Peter is laughing and just says, "Rent the movie Neal.", and with that they all left for lunch.

When they all returned with full stomachs they really didn't want to go into the," Abyss."That is what everyone called the property room. Diana had told Neal that there had been people that went into the property room and never come out. Of course Neal knew she was kidding and they all laughed about it. If they had only know how close to right she had actually been.


	6. Chapter 6

My very first fan fiction ever. Thank you so much for the reviews and comments. I haven't written anything in a very long time. I took creative writing in college and alot of what happens here has actually happend to me, with the exception of being deaged. Wouldn't like going back that far. Anyway, thanks a bunch. This is fun !

They had been working for over three hours and though it wasn't really boring it was tedious work. Going through every box and listing it's contents then making sure each box was it it's correct place. They couldn't believe how many boxes of evidence had been checked out but had not been put back in it's proper place.

There were clothes and watches and diamond jewelry, furniture, art, motorcycles and liquor and of course automobiles, but those were kept in a garage by themselves.

It was unreal the amount of siezed property that was on this floor of the federal building. Things that had been taken from criminals that had defrauded the government or insurance companies. Scheme after scheme that Neal realized he knew about, or for whatever small part had had a hand in. It was almost a walk down memory lane for the con man. Silently he was transported back in time with each item he picked up and examined. He could almost feel the rush as his mind recalled each con, but his stomach protested at the consequences he faced in the end.

Elizabeth had been out scouting places for her next wedding and was close to the fedeal building so she stopped in to see what Peter was up to. She stepped off the elevator at the twenty first floor and went to look for her husband. She saw him through the glass doors and a smile appeared on her face. He looked so involved in his conversation on the phone, leaning forward with one elbow on his desk with the palm of that same hand postioned against his forehead, the other hand writing on his desk pad and the phone pinched between his ear and shoulder. He was moving his head in the affirmative when his eyes peeked up and saw Elizabeth. He too smiled and motioned her up.

"Hi hon, what a nice surprise, what brings you to this part of town"

"I was scouting out new places for a wedding. This one is going to be over the top Peter. Whatever happened to nice family weddings. It seems like now each bride has to out-do the other and these things have turned into full blown productions. It is close to impossible to get everything together that these women are wanting these days," Elizabeth said with a frown.

"Are you regretting that we didn't have a 'whoopty do' wedding when we got married?"

"Oh hon, for heavens sake no! I loved our wedding at my folks home up state. It was beautiful and romantic and it was all about us and the things we love and family. There isn't one thing that I would change about our day." "Speaking of family where is Neal? I have a surprise for him."

Peter smiled and said,"I banished him to the Abyss. He was whining and complaining about how bored he was so, since we didn't have anything to do that was particularly exciting, and I was tired of hearing him go on and on, I just sent him somewhere where I couldn't hear him."

"Oh hon, "El said with a giggle."Did you banish Diana and Clinton too, I don't see them around either. "

"As a matter of fact I did." Peter said,"were they ever mad at him! They were threatening him with physical violence, but hey, they need to learn to work as a team, so maybe there will be a lesson for him. When it happens to one it happens to all."

"Peter, I think you left someone out. Aren't YOU the leader of the team? Shouldn't you be down there with them?"

"El, everyone knows there has to be a leader, someone who gives the orders, a Captain if you will."

"Captain huh? I'm not sure I'm liking that Peter."

"Oh honey, come on, as long as I remember that You are the Admiral, isn't that okay?, Peter says as he moves closer to El and kisses her on the nose. "Come on, they've been down there long enough, lets go spy, I mean go get them and you can tell Neal whatever it is you have for him."

Diana, Jones and Neal are two thirds of the way through with the first cubicle of evidence. It would take weeks to inventory the whole floor, but they are only concerned with the portion of the floor that belongs to the White Collar confiscations.

Neal picks up what looks like a wooden box, not much larger than a childs jewelry box."Hey guys, what is this? It doesn't have any tags or a number written on it. Wonder where it goes."

Diana and Clinton walk over to inspect it as well. They have no idea.

"Was it just sitting there? You didn't pull it out of one of those boxes over there," Diana asked.

"Come on Cafrey, if you have lost the tag off that..." Jones said, but Neal cut him off.

"No, no, I picked up that box right there and this was underneath, it was just, there?"

Peter and Elizabeth had come walking up to where the two agents were gathered around Neal looking at whatever he had in his hand.

"What'cha got there Neal?",Peter asked.

Looking up quickly not noticing that Peter and El had walked in on them, Neal almost dropped the box he was holding. With an automatic movement he caught the box against his side and tried to secure his grip. When he did, he felt a very large sting, no stab in his hand. He looked down and there was a drop of blood on his palm. He shifted the box to his other hand and looked it over, finding nothing that could break his skin.

"Crap ! That hurt !" Neal squealed!

Peter laughed, "Cowboy up Caffrey, it's a tiny scratch, hell, it isn't even a scratch, looks like a pin prick!"

"No kidding Peter, this hurts, and it's moving up my arm, it's like I'm on fire! Peter! Peter!"

Peter really looked at Neal's face and could tell he wasn't playing that he was in a great deal of pain. Then he heard Elizabeth cry out, "Do something Peter, Oh my lord!"

Neal was changing right in front of their eyes, at first he was just getting shorter then smaller all around. No one could do anything. Neal was screaming,"it hurts, it hurts" and had fallen to the floor. Everyone we afraid to touch him. All Peter could say was, "Diana, call a bus, man down!"Then all they could hear was a child's desperate cry, "Huwts, huwts, no, no, no,huwts,".

Diana turned back around from making her phone call,"EMT's will be here...Oh my god".

Elizabeth was the first one to step forward. She couldn't believe what she just witnessed and she was scared, but the crying baby in front of them needed her. She reached out to pick him up under his arms. She held him out from her for a moment and just took it all in. A little boy, not much over two years old. He was wearing a man sized shirt and tie. When she picked him up he came right out of the pants, boxers, shoes and one sock that Neal Caffrrey had just been wearing. The child continued to cry uncontrollably so she brought him to her chest and put a, hand on the back of his head and started moving with him, rocking and swaying and bouncing, anything to get the child to settle down. He finally settled into rythmic whimpers and Elizabeth started talking to him.

"Neal, Neal baby, is it you?" He pulled back his head from her shoulder and just looked at her for a moment. Without a doubt she could tell that it was Neal. Those blue eyes could never be mistaken for someone else.

"Mommy ? Hurwts," he said, as he held out his tiny hand. Peter stepped forward and took his little hand and examined it, sure enough, there was the needle prick.

Peter looked up into the little face that was covered in fallen tears and big blue eyes that held tears that were yet to fall, "Neal, buddy",he said. Then the child reached to go into Peters arms and instinctively Peter gathered him in. "It's okay little man, we'll figure this out, you're okay."

"I scawred Daddy, I scawred..." Neal said as he scooted up as far as he could into the crook between Peter's shoulder and neck.

Peter just looked around at the others there with him. What in the hell had just happened and what in the hell were they going to do.


	7. Chapter 7

Peter just stood there for a moment trying to take it all in. He was holding a crying baby in his arms that not 5 minutes ago was his consultant. How could this be? He had to get his mind wrapped around this and take control of this situation, pronto !

"Diana, get that box, but be careful, and put it somewhere safe until we can find someone who can examine it and tell us what happened."

"Jones, you go down and wait for the EMT's. Call me when they are on their way up."

"Elizabeth, you and I need to come up with a story for the medical personel when they arrive, and they should be here within a couple of minutes."

They decided to go to the 8th floor of the building. There was a sort of agents lounge there, where the out of town agents could go and get cleaned up or rest when they arrived in New York for a case.

"Here, here we go, hey buddy,... Neal..., let me set you down a minute, okay? Can you stand up? There, that's a good boy."

Peter still had the toddler by his shoulders and he and Elizabeth were taking stock. Elizabeth removed the tie and rolled up the sleeves of the dress shirt and pulled the one dangling sock off his little foot. Neal stood there quietly sobbing, the shirttail hem a good six to eight inches longer than he was tall. Elizabeth picked him back up and sat down in one of the chairs and just held him.

Jones called and said the EMT's were on their way. Peter told him to send them to the 8th floor.

When they arrived of course they were looking for a "man down", but there Peter and Elizabeth were with a little boy.

"I'm sorry sir, we were alerted and dispatched for an injured agent?"

"No, no, I'm Agent Peter Burke, sorry, that was a misunderstanding. We have a child that we thought had been injured but, uh, he just got into a bunch of red dye. That's why we have him dressed in this shirt. His clothes were beyond salvageable. We just now got all the dye off him, but you might want to check him over, we don't think he swallowed any."

Peter thought that since the medical personel was there, they might as well have Neal checked over since he had just gone through quite a transformation.

The female paramedic asked Elizabeth if she could lay him down on the sofa. Elizabeth eased him down, but as soon as the stranger went to touch him he scrambled back into El's arms and hid his face in her neck. His little arms had a death grip on her." No Mommy,no, me no want that, pwease, no want that."

"Neal, Neal, honey, come on now, let the nice lady take a look at you. Come on, I'll sit right here and you can sit in my lap, come on now, turn around baby."

Neal turned around and looked up at Jennifer, the paramedic, with red and swollen eyes from crying. He was just about the cutest thing she had ever seen and she couldn't help but comment on his blue eyes. "Hey, Neal, can I look at your eyes? Yours are the prettiest eyes I've ever, ever seen. I'm just going to get close and look at them ok. Wow, they are really pretty when I look at them with my light. Can I listen to your chest with my magic ears? I'll let you listen too, would you like that?"

Neal looked up at Elizabeth then back at Jennifer and nodded his head. She listened and then let him listen. He had the most perplexed expression on his face. Jennifer explained to him that he was listening to his heart. Then by all means he had to listen to Elizabeth's heart and Jennifers too.

"Now Neal, can you stick your tounge out for me?"

Neal stuck his little tounge out at Jennifer, and that made him giggle.

"I knew you had a smile hidden in there," she said and that made him giggle more.

"Now, does your tummy hurt or anything hurt?" Neal immediately stuck out his little hand.

"Oh, you hurt your hand? Let's see." She took his hand and examined the back of it first then turned it over to check the palm. " Hmmm, you've got a little red mark here, does it hurt when I touch it?" Neal jerked his hand back and his chin started to quiver. "Okay, okay, I won't touch it anymore."

"Well, he seems perfectly normal, but his pupils are dialated just a tad. He doesn't seem to have a temperature but he's got an extremely sore place on his hand. It looks like a tiny puncture with edema surrounding it. It almost looks like a sting. It might help if you could get some ice on it." She looked back at Neal and said," I don't suppose you know how that happend do you?"

Neal's eyes got really big and he said, "Noooo, but Dadeeee said what hell happened!"

Peter stepped forward and cleared his throat and Elizabeth tried to "shush" Neal and keep from laughing.

Jennifer laughed and told them that if they were afraid that he swallowed some of whatever he had gotten into they might need to just watch him and take him to the pediatrition tomorrow, but she was pretty sure he was fine. And with that Jennifer and the other paramedic gathered their equipment and left.

Peter took a deep breath and put his hand on the top of Neal's head. "Buddy, what have you gotten me into now, huh?" Neal raised his arms indicating he wanted Peter to hold him, so Peter leaned down and picked him up.

"Well hon, I guess we better get him home and figure out what we are going to tell everybody. I'll get with Diana tomorrow and see about that damn, I mean darn, box." He looked at Elizabeth and she was smiling at him. "What? What are you smiling at?"

"Oh, just how quickly you picked up on little ears hear everything. You are really going to have to watch that. Okay, you think you can get him home by yourself? I'll need to go shopping and I know how you hate that. I'll for sure need to pick up diapers, shoes, clothes and other baby needs. Hey,do you think you might have a confiscated car seat in all that stuff upstairs?"

"You know, I bet we might. There could be alot of baby stuff up there. I remember a few years back we busted a money laundering scheme. They were using a place called, oh what was it ,Buy Buy Baby, or something like that. Couldn't believe they were using a childrens store. Smart though, took us forever to nail them. Just make a list and I'll get Jones to help me look for what you need. Aaaaannnnd, I think I know someone who is getting sleepy."

Peter had been absent mindedly rocking Neal back and forth while he was talking to Elizabeth and the little guy had fallen asleep accross Peter's shoulder. Elizabeth was so releived to find that Peter did in fact have a way with children or at least this child. It was dawning on Peter himself how easy and natural it was with Neal as a child. Especially since in the past being around children was stressful for himself and the kids, but with Neal he immediately had gone into protection mode, or maybe he was in that mode all along where Neal was concerned.


	8. Chapter 8

"Peter ? Peter? Hon? Hey !"

Peter finally snapped out of the memory trance he was in. He folded the little jeans and shirt and handed them to Elizabeth to add to the pile of clean folded clothes that belonged to Neal. How could one child dirty this many clothes?

"Sorry Hon, I was just thinking about that day at the office. I still can't believe it. Things like this don't just happen."

"Well Peter I don't know what to tell you because it happened and the proof is asleep upstairs. Would you just look at all these clothes? You can tell it's Neal. If he feels he gets too dirty he wants to change."

Elizabeth warms at the feeling. She loves being called Mommy and she was thoroughly entertained daily by Neal's antics. It had taken some getting used to. Of course it would have been easier to have started with an infant. Then you could have set your own schedule and eased into the two year old era. This had been thrust upon her and Peter too, but she loved that Peter would step right up in the middle of the night, or when he got home from work and take over baby duties. For the time being she had set up a work from home office since they didn't know for sure what would happen with Neal. Peter had had to let Mozzie take that box and try and figure out what had happened. They couldn't risk running it through the FBI lab. Sure, it probably would have been faster, but they didn't know what would become of Neal. Peter had informed Reece, and had taken to carrying the tracker in his briefcase so that the Marshalls wouldn't be any the wiser. It still looked like Neal was going to the office everyday and staying with the Burkes. It would be easy enough to come up with a story as to why he wasn't staying in his apartment for now.

The next morning started out just as any other. Neal calling from his room around the 5:30 A.M. mark. He always got up in a good mood and Peter and El looked forward to their morning routine. Listening to him giggle and babble on about every little thing made their hearts light. He found wonder in everything, a bug, a weed that grew up through the crack in the sidewalk, a funny looking cloud and Satchmo's tail. Yes, Satchmo's tail had whacked the little guy quite a few times in the face and head. Then there were the times that Neal would build something with his blocks and be so proud of his masterpiece only to have Satchmo come through and destroy it with one wag of his tail. Those times usually ended up with a minor meltdown on Neal's part. He never got angry and tried to hit the dog, but his little feelings would be so hurt he would run to El or Peter whining and crying. It didn't take him long to figure out that those times usually ended up with a treat of some sort for him. Peter picked up on that the night Satchmo was outside when Neal came running claiming that Satchmo had spilled his juice. Oh boy, it was Caffrey alright.

Today was going to be interesting. Sarah was coming to have lunch with El and see for herself what the big secret about Neal was. She hadn't been able to get him on his phone. She called Peter and he had told her that Neal was fine, just unavailable, and that she should go by and visit Elizabeth, that she had been working from home and would probably enjoy the company. So, Sarah had called a couple of days later and today was the day that she was to find out that Neal was very much available and very much a tiny little boy.

The doorbell rang and Elizabeth went to answer. She invited Sarah in and they settled into the den with talk of insurance investigations and catering extravaganzas. Sarah noticed that Elizabeth had a sneaky little smile on her face so she just asked.

"Ok, what gives? Peter just happens to tell me to come by and you just happen to be so giddy you can barely contain yourself. What on earth is up?"

Elizabeth gets up from the sofa and tells Sarah,"Just wait here. I'll be right back." She moves up the stairs and comes back in a moment with a very young child on her hip.

"Oh ! Elizabeth! You and Peter adopted! Neal never told me you guys were even considering it! Congratulations!"

Elizabeth laughed and tried to pull the sleepy child off her shoulder so that she could turn him to face Sarah. The more She tried to coax him around the more he whined and pushed his face into her neck. So she just sat down with him and rubbed his back.

"No wonder you are working from home. I admire you Elizabeth, I really do. You know for a while there I thought Neal and I might make a go of it ,but you know Caffrey. Can't say I haven't dreamed about settling down with him and having a baby, maybe two. Who knows, another place another time, it could still happen... right ? Which reminds me, can you give me a hint on whatever it is Peter has Neal working on. He told me Neal is fine, but I haven't spoken to him in over 2 weeks now and it's really not like him not to call."

In the few moments Sarah had been talking, Neal woke up enough to turn in Elizabeth's lap and look right at Sarah. She gasped and grabbed her chest, it couldn't be!

"Eliz, Eliza, El...is that who I think it is? It is isn't it? It's him! Oh my god, what happened?!"

Elizabeth explained to Sarah everything that had happened in the last two weeks.

"That is just incredible. Is he okay, I mean, is he okay?"

"He is as far as we know. Seems to be a normal two year old or there abouts. Got him at a good age huh? I've always heard of the "Terrible Two's and Peter thinks we should start potty training him right away. Which if you would excuse me for a minute, I think we have a diaper that needs to be changed right now."

Sarah is laughing now. "Elizabeth? Can I? I mean, do you think I could, you know, change him?"

Neal was now squirming in El's lap to get down, that was until Sarah spoke to him. He stopped and looked at her. She tentatively put her arms out, palms up, wiggled her fingers and called his name. To El's disbelief he went right to her. She put her arms around him and hugged him and kissed his dark curls.

"Oh Neal, what have you gone and done now?" she whispered. She closed her eyes and breathed him in and could smell the baby scent of him. When she looked back at El she had tears in her eyes. " He's beautiful" she said as she was trying to grab his hands . He was trying his best to get them on her necklace.

"Shiney, pwetty" he was saying.

"Come on Sarah, I'll show you Neal's room and let you get that diaper changed."

They walked up the stairs and into the room that had been transformed into a nursery. Elizabeth watched Sarah as she gathered a clean diaper and all the things she would need to make sure that he was clean and anything else that she might need in the way of lotions or powder. It had been a long time since she had even held a baby much less changed a diaper.

Elizabeth was just about to tell her to be careful when she pulled the wet diaper off him, but it was too late. Neal was peeing in Sarah's face and in her hair. She didn't know what to do. She finally just held her hand over the stream and looked over at Elizabeth. Of course she was laughing hysterically and then Sarah began to laugh too and then Neal laughed, though he had no clue why.

Sarah finally caught her breath, "I think WE need a bath!"

Elizabeth was still laughing as she took a picture. "Sure, I'll take him down and bathe him in the sink. I'll get you some clothes and the bathroom is right next door. I can't wait to tell Peter. If it makes you feel any better it's happened to him twice. I know what little boys are capable of. My sister has two !"

Sarah just smiled and looked down at Neal. "I'll be ready for you next time Caffrey."


	9. Chapter 9

El and Peter had a good laugh at Sarah's expense. She had decided to make a day of it with Neal and Elizabeth and when Peter got home he couldn't help but comment on Sarah's less than Fifth Avenue appearance.

"Is it Halloween and nobody told me? Going as one of Honey Boo Boo's relatives?"he said.

She was dressed in a pair of El's sweats and her hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail. She was sitting in the floor with Neal playing with tinker toys. They had some sort of building started and they were both oblivious to anyone else in the room. Every now and then Neal would tell Sarah that she did it wrong and with a sigh he would have to redo whatever she had just done. She wound up staying for supper and long enough afterwards to bathe Neal and help get him down for the night. It took a while to get him to sleep and El didn't know if it was because he was overly tired or because he was afraid he might miss something else that was going on,or because the routine was different because Sarah had insisted on being the one to rock him. Normally that was Peter's job. More than likely the later.

The next morning Peter wasn't awakened by Neal. Since they had gotten the "big boy" bed more times than not Neal would come into the master bedroom and pat Peters leg until he woke up and brought Neal into the bed with them. He slipped out from underneath El's arm and slid off the bed without waking her, then walked down to Neal's room to see what was keeping him. Neal was still sound asleep and Peter chalked it up to the big day he had had with Sarah yesterday. He was turned sideways in the bed and curled up like a ball. His blanket had become untucked and was pulled up covering his body with the exception of one little bare foot. The ever present thumb was stuck securely in his mouth.

He decided he would go down stairs and start some coffee and maybe bring El a cup in bed.

The sun was shining just right through the window of Neal's room. He turned his head so that is wasn't shining directly in his eyes and slowly started waking up. He sat up in his bed and untagled himself from his sheet and blanket and crawled over the side to make his way toward Peter and El's room. He stood there for a minute rubbing his eyes still trying to wake up looking for Peter then made his way to the bathroom. Finally satisfied that Peter was no where around he made his way to the stairs.

Standing on his very tip toes he could barely reach the latch on the side of the baby gate. He kept manipulating it until the shiney thing clicked, then he pulled the gate back and looked down the stairs. He had always been carried up and down the stairs by Peter, but El would let him do it by himself, well kinda by himself, she always held his hand on one side and he would hold the stair spindles on the other. He grabbed the spindle with his right hand and eased himself down the first step, then the next, then the next. He could hear Peter in the kitchen and he wanted to show him what a big boy he was. He was about six stairs from the bottom when Peter came around the corner.

"Neal !" Peter cried out. He knew he shouldn't have done it as soon as it was out of his mouth. He was just so startled and surprised.

Neal fell forward face first and Peter dropped the cup of coffee that was in his hand and tried to catch him but he landed against the hinges of the baby gate that was installed at the bottom of the stairs.

At first there was no sound, Peter knelt to pick Neal up. There was blood all over his face and mouth. Neal began to scream. Elizabeth appeared at the top of the stairs and almost fell herself getting to the bottom and to her baby.

"Peter, oh my god, what happened. Neal, Neal, baby? Let me see, let me see."

"He fell honey, I tried to catch him, but he landed against these little metal hinges."

"Let me see Peter, let me see him!"

Peter had pulled Neal against his chest as he continued to had been talking to him softly and telling him that he was okay. El gasped as Peter pulled Neal away from himself to face him towards El. There was blood covering Peters shirt and Neals face and running down onto his pajama top. El turned and ran back up the stairs to get some towels and threw on a pair of sweat pants and one of Peters shirts. She came back down the stairs and stopped long enough to try and wipe some of the blood off Neals face with one of the towels so she could see what they were dealing with. Neal continued to scream and cry and since he had bloodied his nose in the tumble as well, he was choking and gagging on the blood that was running down his throat.

"We've got to go Peter, I'll hold him while you get some shoes on then get the keys."

Peter handed Neal over to El. She wrapped the towel around him and tried to comfort him the best she could. "It's okay baby, you're okay. Momma's got you, shhh, shhhh, shhh. Oh my precious angel, it's okay." El began to cry softly too and was kissing the top of Neals head whispering,"Poor baby, mommys baby, hush now, shhhh, you're okay Neal. Mommy's got you."

Peter came back with the keys to the car, gathered El and Neal and headed out the door. The emergency room wasn't far from their house in Brooklyn but they couldn't get there before Neal began to gag again and threw up a tummy full of blood that he had swallowed. They arrived at the ER and were taken right in.

The nurses set about accessing Neal. He began to cry and scream again when El had to let the nurses take him from her and El began to cry again as well when she and Peter were escorted to another room."His name is Neal" El said through her tears. "Neal. Oh Neal."

"Peter what happened, how did this happen?! Did you not latch the gate? Oh my god!",

"Of course I shut the gate El, I'm not an idiot! Do you think that I would...do you...no, we aren't doing this. This was an accident. Us yelling at one another is not going to do us or Neal any good. I'm sorry this happened."

"Oh hon, I don't mean to take it out on you. I am just so scared. There was so much blood."

"Cuts on the head and face bleed alot, lets not borrow trouble until we hear what the doctors say, okay"

El moved into Peters embrace. He smoothed her hair and kissed her on the top of her head.

A nurse, Beth, stuck her head in the door and asked the Burke's to come with her.

"I'm sorry you've had to wait a few minutes. It's policy to access children without their parents present. I know it's scary, but we have a top notch pediatric staff. It's probably been scarier for you than it has been for your little boy. He settled pretty quickly. The doctor started an IV and.." that's as far as she got.

"An IV! How badly is he hurt ! Peter ! How did we let this happen?" El cried.

"Mrs. Burke, , calm down. The doctor wanted to give him just a little something to calm him and it is procedure to start an IV when administering a sedative. He's resting comfortably in a twilight state. We haven't done anything to him but get him cleaned up so far. The doctor will fill you in on everything else."

They turned the corner onto the pediatric section of the ER and there was Neal. He was lying on a gurney encased in a contraption that made him look like a papoose. He couldn't move if he wanted to. He had been stripped of his pajamas and diaper. His right arm was taped to a board and stuck out at a right angle to his body. One of the two nurses that was with him was holding a guaze pad above one eye. El just put a hand over her mouth and Peter put his arms around her.

Just then a doctor came into the room. "Mr and Mrs Burke? I'm Dr. Adams. First of all, let me assure you that Neal will be just fine. No concussion, but he's got a pretty severe gash on his forehead that I would like the plastic surgeon to stitch for him, simply for asthetic reasons. The cut on his cheek we'll put some butterfly bandages on. He busted his lip and he's going to have a black eye. His left wrist has been hyper extended, so we are going to splint that. Just something pretty simple. You can even take it off when you bathe him. I'd just like for him to wear it a couple of weeks until that wrist gets some strength back and to protect it. In a couple of days he'll be running around like this never even happened. We've got him on an IV of Saline and Versed. We'll take that out just as soon as the Plastic Surgeon gets through with those stitches and he wakes up. Oh, we also gave him some Phenagren for nausea. His tummy was upset when he first came in. You can take him home in just a few hours." He put his hand on El's shoulder and shook Peter's hand." He's fine, don't worry," Dr Adams said with a smile. "Dr. Arnoff will be in shortly to administer those stitches and we'll get him out of that thing that makes him look like a mummy. Here's my card, call me if you have any problems at all."

El and Peter were so relieved. Dr. Arnoff came in about ten minutes later and had Neal's head stitched in no time. They were amazed at how tiny the stitches were and they were actually on the inside of the wound. More amazing was the fact that the Dr. closed the outside of it with super glue. "Wont even be able to see a scar", he said.

Once the stitches were done the nurses unwrapped Neal from the pediatric papoose board. He had tinkled on himself, so the nurses bathed him and gave El a diaper to put on him. She couldn't help but think this was the first time she had ever diapered him without him squirming around. Next they brought El a rocking chair to sit in then wrapped a light blanket around Neal and handed him over to her to rock until he woke up being careful of the IV. She was exhausted. Peter had gone to get them some coffee and he had stopped by the gift shop on his way back. He bought Neal a big fluffy teddy bear for when he woke up. He made it back to the room where El and Neal were. He just stopped in the door and watched. Neal was still sound asleep and El had her eyes closed as she rocked and was humming a soothing lullabye.

He had been scared before. Before all this, when Neal was his partner. They had been in some scrapes, bad scrapes,dangerous scrapes. They had been knocked around, scaped up and even shot at, but he couldn't remember being as scared as he was this morning. The memories were bittersweet. He wanted his partner back so badly, but he was falling madly in love with the tiny little boy in El's arms. He walked into the room, El looked at him and smiled, he sat down in a chair, and they waited.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS FOR MY FIRST FICTION EVER. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED. HELP ME BE A BETTER STORY TELLER !


	10. Chapter 10

El had been rocking Neal for about thirty minutes when the little guy started to come around. He was trying to keep his eyes open but they kept rolling around in his head and closing. He had tried to lift his head from El's arm a couple of times but it was just too much effort. Peter had pulled his chair closer and was running his fingers through Neal's curls gently and speaking softly to him.

"Hey buddy, can you wake up? Neal,… Neal,… buddy...can you open your eyes for us?"

Peter looked up at El and said with a big smile, "Don't be surprised if he starts singing. I'm not kidding. He has a low tolerance for drugs."

"Don't make fun of him Peter, bless his little heart, can't you see he's trying?"

Neal continued to try and open his eyes and within a few minutes he had them open but Peter and Elizabeth weren't sure exactly how much he was seeing. He still appeared to be in a haze and unaware of what was going on around him.

A nurse came in to check on the little family and to see how Neal was doing. She saw that he had his eyes open and told El that she thought they could go ahead and remove his IV. She reached for his arm and his eyes followed her hands. As she was removing the catheter from his arm he started to cry. Huge tears were rolling down his face. The nurse was trying to hurry and get all the tape off of him so she could leave him alone.

"Neal, honey, what's wrong baby. It's all over now. We're going home in a minute. Don't cry honey, you're okay, Mommy's got you."

"It's very normal for him to be agitated coming off of the medication, "the nurse assured them. He'll more than likely be groggy and maybe a little irritable the rest of today. When you get him home and he's awake a little more, give him some yogurt or jello, or maybe a piece of toast. Nothing too heavy on his tummy, okay? We gave him Phenergan when he first came in, so he shouldn't have any problems. Now I just need to listen to his chest and check his pulse and you're good to go. I'll bring you a gown for him. Here are the pajamas we took off him," as she handed El a small bag.

She pulled the blanket back from Neal's chest as he continued to sob and listened to his little heart. It was hard to hear over his cries but he was declared alright to go home.

Elizabeth sat him up in her lap and he looked around, and Elizabeth and Peter really looked at him. He was definitely going to have a black eye; the area had already started to turn purple. He had a bandage over the cut on his forehead, butterflies over the cut on his cheek; dried blood was still crusted under his nose, and he had a tiny splint on his left wrist. He looked like he had been in a fight and had gotten the worst end of the deal. El knew he wasn't in any pain but she still could not stop his crying.

Peter reached for him and put him over his shoulder. Neal instantly buried his face in Peter's neck. He noticed Neal was getting hot with all his crying so Peter peeled the blankets off him and just held him in his diaper and rubbed and patted his back. "Neal, you need to stop crying buddy. You're okay now, you hear me? You're okay." he said.

Neal started taking shuddering breaths and turned his head sideways on Peters shoulder and stuck the thumb of his uninjured hand in his mouth. He was rattling through his nose and Peter concluded that it was caused by dried blood still being in his nostrils. Cleaning his nose was going to be a war better waged at home. Peter handed him the teddy bear he had bought. It was as big as Neal and he clutched it to his chest. "Home daddy, pwease? Wanna go home."

The nurse came back carrying a gown to dress Neal in. El tried to take him from Peter to get him ready but Neal began to whine and clutched on to Peter tighter. Now Neal had the teddy pulled up against Peter's face and he could feel little fingers dig into his shirt.

"You know what El, it's warm outside, and he's okay like this. We're just going to the car and the house isn't far. No need upsetting him more."

Peter patted Neal's back and whispered to him and he immediately felt Neal relax. When they got to the car they ran into the same problem. Peter tried to put the boy in his car seat and he grabbed on to Peter with everything he had.

"Okay buddy, we'll do this your way."

Peter handed El the car keys. He knew it was wrong not to put the little fellow in his car seat, but the house wasn't that far away and he'd sit in the back with him.

The drive to the house was uneventful. When they got inside Satchmo was so excited to see everyone. He kept jumping up at Peter trying to sniff Neal.

"Nooooo, noooooo," Neal whined as he pulled his bare feet up.

"Hey bud, you want something to eat? Are you hungry?" Peter asked.

Elizabeth was making her way to the kitchen to see what she had on hand that might be appetizing to Neal. "Peter, we have blueberry yogurt, he likes that. No jello, but we have toast and I could scramble him some eggs or make him some mac and cheese."

"What do you say buddy? How about some yogurt? You love the blueberry kind."

Neal just shook his head no. No matter what they offered, Neal declined.

"Hmmm," Peter said. "Well it's 2:30 in the afternoon. I know ! What about some ice cream"

Neal's head immediately popped off Peter's shoulder. "Ice cweam? Chockat? Yes pwease."

Peter just grinned and patted the boy.

"Peter, really?" El asked. "Don't you think he needs something more substantial right now? He hasn't eaten all day."

"All the more reason to get him to eat something sweetheart. It won't hurt him. It's the first time I've seen him smile all day."

"Ok Neal, chocolate ice cream it is! First, we are going to clean up your nose," Neal began to whine,"Neal listen to me. First we are going to clean up your nose then we are going to eat ice cream. No tears, no crying now, okay?"

"Otay Daddy. Daddy ?"

"Yes Neal?"

"I falled down da tairs."

"Yes, I know you did baby. Bumped your noggin pretty good too."

Neal put his hand to his head and rubbed.

Peter picked him up and put him in his booster seat at the table, then he got a warm rag to clean Neal's nose. When he came toward him with the rag he started to squirm. Peter put one hand on the top of Neal's head to steady him and gently began to clean the dried blood away. He didn't cry and he didn't shed any tears, but it was too much to ask of him to be still. It was taken care of quickly and Peter went to the freezer to retrieve the ice cream.

Peter and El sat there and watched Neal eat his chocolate ice cream. He had it all over his face, hands and chest. They looked at one another across the table, and then they joined hands. Peter kissed her fingers. They had survived their first crisis as parents. It had been frightening and threatened to put them at odds with one another, but they were a united front. Together there was nothing that they couldn't handle.

Neal was getting tired and El wanted to get him cleaned up before he went to sleep so she took him upstairs and prepared a warm bath. She took off his little splint and being careful of the bandages on his head, she soaped and rinsed her little guy. Then she took him into the nursery and massaged him all over with lotion. Neal was so relaxed he was almost like a rag doll. She put a diaper on him and a Yankees t-shirt that Peter bought him that was too large.

Peter had changed his shirt and had lain down on the sofa. The morning had done him in too and it wasn't long before he was asleep. El brought Neal down and laid him on Peter's chest. Her eyes welled up when Peter adjusted his arm around Neal and she watched Neal nestle into Peter's chest, fisting the fabric of his shirt in his little hand. Neither one had even opened their eyes. It was less than a minute before they were breathing in harmony with Neal subtly rising and falling with each breath that Peter took. They were perfect.


	11. Chapter 11

Just wondering how everyone is liking the story so far? Majority rules here since this is my first fan fiction. I've gotten some private messages stating that Neal as a baby has run it's course and I need to do something different. Sp what do I do, leave him a baby, change him back, de-age someone else? For the most part my reviews have been very positive, the private messages not so much. I know I'm not nearly as eloquent a writer as the majority here, but I'm trying. I keep reminding myself that this is fiction and I'm not writing anyones biography, however, I know how close you can get to a character. They become someone that you know, a friend. So, if I'm not asking too much, I'd appreciate it if some of you writers could give me some input on my story. I've already learned that my skin needs to get a little thicker! No worries. I've been having fun even if I decide to never write another story.


	12. Chapter 12

Life at the Burke household had fallen into a familiar routine. Most mornings Neal woke first. He would bounce into the master bedroom and crawl into bed with Peter and El. They would all snuggle for a while and then the day would begin. El would start breakfast and Peter would get himself and Neal dressed then they would head downstairs to eat. Peter noticed that more times than not now, Neal would wake with a dry diaper. He and Elizabeth had discussed it and realized that she wasn't having to change him as often during the day now either. Neal had also been alerting El when he needed to be changed, now if they could just get him to tell them before he had to go potty they would have toilet training in the bag.

Neal loved music and he loved M & M's, two things that they could use to encourage and reward Neal with to use his new potty chair. They put it downstairs thinking that it would be convenient. At first he wanted nothing to do with it but once El explained to him that if he would potty in it, it would play a tune he started to like it more. Not that he had actually used it yet, but he would pour water or milk or juice into it regularly to hear the music. The Burke's were surely in unchartered waters here. Emily, El's sister, suggested that they put the potty chair in the bathroom close to the toilet and to let Neal observe Peter when Peter needed to go.

"Hon, I don't think I can do that, I'd be so uncomfortable," Peter stammered.

"Peter, Emily said that is the way John taught Charlie. She said it took hardly any time at all. Just don't make a big deal out of it and answer any questions he might have."

"Questions? Like what kind of questions?"

"I don't know Peter, but whatever he asks I'm sure you'll know the answer to. You have the same equipment you know."

"I know that….. it's, its just so strange, I mean, you know, strange,...that's Neal,… you know ?"

"I know Peter, but he's not your CI anymore, he's your little boy. Your very bright, sweet, loving little boy and he needs guidance. He has no memory of who he used to be. As far as he knows we are mommy and daddy and we're all he's got. We can do this. I know we had planned on no children but you know what they say,' If you want God to laugh, tell him your plans.'"

Elizabeth never ceased to amaze Peter. The fact that she took to mothering so well, so quickly, so easily, left him wondering why they had decided so early on not to have children of their own. It never mattered what they needed to learn or what Neal might need, she fell into it as if she had been doing it all her life. He was glad that she was so confident because he surely was not!

"Hey buddy, are you about ready for your bath?

Neal was in the floor of his room surrounded by stuffed animals. It looked as though he was having a meeting with them and by the furrow on his little brow he was letting them know just exactly who was in charge. Peter stood there for a moment leaning in the doorway with his arms folded in front of him.

"Is something the matter Neal?"

"Daddy, sumbuddy ate my cookie! Mommy gave it to me an it was mine an I put it ober dare" as Neal pointed to a low shelf on his bookshelf. "It's gone, I can't find it."

Peter knew who got the cookie and it wasn't one of the innocent animals that Neal had gathered round him. It was the yellow Labrador that was lying beside Neal's bed licking his chops.

"Well, how about we take a bath and afterwards we'll get you another cookie? Mommy is baking some more right now. We'll both have cookies and milk. Would you like that?"

"Yes daddy !", He jumped up from the floor and ran to Peter with his arms raised and Peter grabbed him and hoisted him over his shoulder and gave him a soft swat on the bottom.

Once in the bathroom Peter asked Neal if he needed to potty before taking a bath. He nodded his head "No".

"Are you sure, your diaper was dry and you haven't needed a new diaper in a while. Are you sure buddy?"

"I don't want to," Neal said with his chin on his chest.

"You don't want to what? Take a bath or go potty?"

"Don't want to potty Daddy, you don't potty."

"What? Yes I do Neal."

"Big peeples don't potty."

"Yes they do Neal, what do you think this is for?" Peter asked as he touched the toilet.

Neal just stood there looking at him. Peter tipped his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. All matter of things were flowing through his mind. What should he do, what should he not do?

"Ok, here is what we are going to do Neal. We will both go potty, then you will take a bath and then we will have cookies," and I'll have a very,very very,stiff drink.

Peter took a deep breath and stepped over to the toilet. He unzipped his pants and took hold of himself and then started to pee. Neal was very interested, Peter could tell because his eyes were huge.

"Oh, that's big daddy an you have hair down dare. Why you have hair down dare?" Neal pointed.

"Well Neal, all big people get hair."

"Why?"

"They just do."

"Why?"

"Well, because you grow more hair when you get older. Just like you grow hair on your head. Look, daddy has hair on his legs and arms and under his arms, and you will too when you grow up. Come on now let's let you potty and then it's the tub for you mister."

Peter pushed Neal up to his potty chair. He didn't really know what to do. Should he let Neal stand and try and hit the target that was brightly imprinted in the bottom of the chair or should he get him to sit down? The decision was made for him when Neal started to tinkle. Thank heavens Peter had him pushed up far enough that he was going in the right spot. Soon, Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star began to play.

Neal was so happy and Peter was too. He couldn't believe he had gotten Neal to go on his very first try and he was beginning to feel very confident in his parenting skills. He did know the answers to the questions just like El had told him he would.

After Neal was bathed Peter had him standing on the bath mat while he was drying him with a towel. Neal was grinning, enjoying being rubbed. Peter turned around to get a diaper and when he turned back Neal had his hands on either side of his round tummy and was bending forward with his head down looking at himself.

"Daddy," he said still looking down," I no have no hair down dare."

"I told you buddy, you get that when you grow up."

"Oh….. does Mommy have hair down dare too?"

"Hey Neal ! What about those cookies, let's go gettem !"


	13. Chapter 13

Still writing in my head. Haven't had time to post. My dad has just been placed in hospice so have been terribly preoccupied. There will be a few more chapter of the cute litte criminal to come. Bare with me. :(


	14. Chapter 14

"Suit, I don't think leaving Neal with Sarah is a good idea. Does she even have any experience with kids?"

Peter and Elizabeth were scheduled to go out of town to a FBI conference in Chicago. It was only going to be a long weekend, leaving Friday and back in New York by Sunday evening. They had discussed it and decided that leaving Neal with Sarah was their only logical choice. They would have much preferred leaving him with June, but she was out of town herself and not due back until the middle of next week. Even though they knew Mozzie loved Neal, leaving the baby with him for an extended period of time didn't sit well. Neal was like a sponge and they were concerned that he might pick up a few bad habits. Plus the fact that Mozzie had always made it clear he was uncomfortable with kids. They were dirty and smelly and had all sorts of germs.

Elizabeth had packed all the things Neal would need for his stay and Peter was going to drop him off at Sarah's. She had taken the day off so that she could spend it with Neal and give him her undivided attention. Everything was fine until she got the phone call.

"Neal, I need you to be really good now. I have to go into work for a little while and I'm taking you with me. Now what do we need to take with us, hmmmm? Let's see, a change of clothes, some toys.. that should be all we need we aren't going to be there long. Oh, this should be fun !"

Neal had been pretty quiet since Peter left him at Sarah's. He liked Sarah ok and she played with him, but he had already missed his morning nap and he was getting tired and hungry and with her rushing around he was getting anxious. She got Neal into a jacket, put a little cap on his head grabbed the bag with his stuff in it, grabbed her purse and swung Neal up onto her hip. Racing around carrying several things and balancing a child on super high heels Sarah headed out the door. She pushed the button for the elevator and stepped backwards and lost her balance for a moment. Neal thought they were falling so he grabbed onto her, his fingers tangling in her strand of pearls.

"Uh oh, broke",Neal said as the pearls bounced and rolled around Sarah's feet.

"Oh Neal!" Sarah croaked, "not my pearls. My antique pearls!"

Her raised voice scared Neal and his little bottom lip started to quiver. He looked down into his hand and he was holding 5 or 6 of the pearls. "Sowry" he said.

"It's not your fault baby, I'm sorry , I'm sorry. Here, let me put you down and we need to find all the little pearls ok? Can you help me do that?"

She put him down and he went about gathering up the scattered pearls. She was on her knees picking up her broken pearls too. Thirty minutes later after having found all the pearls they could and dumping them into Sarah's purse they were on their way to Sarah's office once again.

When Peter and Elizabeth asked what Sarah's plans would be she had told them that they would be in all weekend and maybe walk to the Park that was only about three blocks from her apartment, so they hadn't left her a booster seat. No booster seat, no cab ride. They ended up having to walk the 12 blocks to Sterling Bosch. Well, Neal only walked two, Sarah carried him the rest of the way. At least it was cool, but her feet were killing her and her hair was sort of a mess. To say she was undone was an understatment for the way she looked compared to how she normally looked at work. She drew quite a few stares from co-workers and her boss.

Once she got Neal something to eat and took him to potty he had settled into a nap very quickly. Sarah left him in her office but she was right next door in the conference room and she could see him through the glass wall. She came in to check on him from time to time too and had covered him with one of her shawls. But Neal being Neal he can be there one second and gone the next. She had just been in to check on him and he seemed sound asleep still. She found him two doors down drawing on some documents of one of her colleauges. At least he had been drawing with a highlighter and you could still read what was drawn over. It would only cost Sarah a couple of tickets to a broadway show for her colleagues secretary to redo the insurance quote for one of Doanld Trumps buildings.

Sarah decided that she had done enough work and that anything else that needed doing could and would be done at home. Gathering Neal and his belongings Sarah was able to get a secretary to drive them back to her apartment. The secretary had a booster seat in her car. She was beginning to see working moms in a whole new light. No matter how much they were paid she knew that it would never be enough. Just taking care of a toddler was a full time job in itself. How did these women do it? Especially the single moms.

Once back at her apartment she and Neal played with blocks and the Baby Einstein computer pad that she had picked up to entertain Neal with. She had one client that would be stopping by for a consultation and after that it would be just her and Neal for the rest of the weekend. It was close to three thirty and time for an afternoon nap so Sarah laid Neal down on her bed. Earlier in the day, she had also lain out her lingerie on one side of her bed to dry.

Her client was just about ready to leave when Neal came out of her bedroom carrying her Victoria's Secret bra with her thong panties around his neck. She was embarassed beyond words especially when Neal walked up to her client and he just bent down and picked Neal up. Neal held out his hand as if to give the man Sarah's bra.

"Why thank you young man," he said.

Neal grinned and turned and reached for Sarah. She took him and she could feel her face and ears getting red and hot.

"Mr. Steinbrenner, I am so sorry and I'm sooooo embarassed!"

" Ha ha ha, Sarah, don't worry about it, I have grandkids of my own and if there is one thing that you can count on, it's don't count on anything when kids are around. They can sure make life interesting. Nice underwear by the way," he said as he was handing her back her bra. "The kid has good taste."

Sarah saw him out and took the panties from around Neals neck. She looked at the matched set and remembered when Neal had lovingly taken them off her. Did he pick those because he remembered them. Of all the lingerie he could have chosen, why these. Was he remembering something. She would make sure and tell Elizabeth and Peter when they called.


End file.
